


Ceremonies

by TheRustyWriter



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama & Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:15:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRustyWriter/pseuds/TheRustyWriter
Summary: When she has to go to a wedding one weekend, little does Raven Reyes know it will be the start of an encounter that will continue over four weddings and a funeral. So, just The 100 version of that very film.
Relationships: Finn Collins/Clarke Griffin, John Murphy & Raven Reyes, John Murphy/Raven Reyes, Monty Green/Nathan Miller
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	Ceremonies

**Author's Note:**

> Despite having so much work to do and ‘Distance’ to finish, I have just spent the last few days writing this. Weirdly, it's in present tense, almost entirely from Raven's perspective, and is a modern-day fic, which are all out of character for me as a writer. 
> 
> Plus, it's a total rip off of Four Weddings and a Funeral - I almost just called it that. But I had it as an idea in my head for the BLM prompt card, couldn't get my Google account to log in, so then just wrote it myself and made my own donation direct.

Flinging her suitcase onto the stand, she surveys the fancy room in the high-end hotel she is staying in for the wedding. Careful not to mess up the intricate high bun that her friend and former flatmate, Gaia, had perfected for her a few hours ago, she sits back on the supersized bed and breathes out through her nose slowly, in an attempt to steady herself for the event ahead. Opening the welcome-pack she'd found in the suite, she shifts through the contents to find a glossed programme of the order of service and events, covered in nauseatingly glamorous photos of the happy couple, several chilled mini bottle of champagne, some posh chocolates, confetti, tissues and some other random memorabilia, including a keyring. _Who the hell makes a goodie bag for their wedding?_ She snorts at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea, as she traces her fingertips over the embellished lettering on the front of the booklet. 

_The Kane-Griffin and Collins families are pleased to unite in love and welcome you to the wedding of:_

_Clarke and Finn._

Simultaneously she wants to laugh ('unite in love' - _What was that?)_ while, at the same time, sink further into the despondency that had engulfed her over the last week. Despite being told by the Collins's since childhood that she was part of their family, Raven now feels on the peripheries of it. Even after their breakup, Finn and his parents had assured her that she would always be part of their family but, over the years, she'd felt less and less included and increasingly replaced by Clarke and her shiny, glossy presence. The final blow had come just a week before, when Finn had explained that 'Clarke' felt 'awkward' having her on the family table and thought it was 'more fitting' that his little brother, Ilian, was Best Man and it was just immediate family on the top table. This being Ilian, who, while maybe the only one of the family Raven actually likes right now (since clearly neither of his parents had fought in her defence), is utterly terrified of public speaking at the best of times, never mind in front of hundreds of people at a wedding. 

As usual though, while she inwardly seethed, she didn't actually fight him on it. She'd seen it coming for weeks. Plus, Finn had this annoying habit of being so polite and charming that it was always hard to fight him on anything. And he'd told her at his lovely Nan's 80th birthday, so she knew he'd deliberately planned the perfect way avoid a scene. _Typical Finn_ in so many ways. 

Even three and a half years earlier, when she'd finally confronted him about her suspicions that he'd met someone else after nearly eight years together, he justified it by saying he hadn't wanted to hurt her any further after her accident and, 'even though they had both clearly moved on', he just couldn't 'bring himself to leave and abandon' her. Somehow then, despite wanting to pull his pretty hair out, she found herself agreeing that they would remain friends. In fact, he'd actually persuaded her not to mention the overlap in their relationship to Clarke, after admitting to telling his new girlfriend they'd broken up an indeterminate number of years earlier and just remained close friends.

Describing her muted reaction as odd or out of character, didn't anywhere near cover it, as she definitely didn't usually regard herself as a walkover. Quite the opposite: she's a Badass. A hard ass. If you ask any of the guys in her team at work, they would say she is fierce. Scary even. Maybe even a pain in their asses sometimes. 

But Finn. 

Ever since he'd come and sat with her on the overgrown lawn of her mother's house when she was five, while she waited for her to finish entertaining her latest inappropriate (probably married) man-friend, he'd been her saviour. In the years that followed, because he'd offered her his house as a sanctuary and friendship, which not many other kids were prepared to because of her mother's reputation, it meant that she'd never been able to give him the same 'I'm not accepting your bullshit' attitude she gave everyone else. Although he is no longer her saviour, he is still her weakness and she's afraid that without him and his family, she will revert to being that vulnerable and lonely little girl locked out of her own house, looking in. 

I mean, as if the cheating and the dumping her from the groom's party practically on the eve of the wedding wasn't enough, he'd also been partly responsible for her accident. Four years earlier, he'd left her waiting at a junction after work in the dark, where they'd specifically arranged a pick up, so he didn't have to come all the way through the checkpoints of the company where she still works. He was supposed to be giving her a lift home, while her own car was in the shop. Of course, he'd never shown up and it was only after their later breakup that he finally admitted he'd gone to collect his new girlfriend instead, after her own lift let her down, the irony of which wasn't lost on her. So, left alone in the dark, she started walking and was hit by a kid, illegally riding along the road on a quadbike with no lights. 

Thus, she is understandably pissed about having to attend his wedding to the woman he was cheating on her with, under the guise of distant family friend who has to sit on a friends' table. _The audacity of that man!_

Every part of her wants to run. To shout 'fuck him' and walk out... Mind, it is actually a nice room. And she's not paying for it. Plus, Susan Collins had insisted that she stay until Monday and enjoy a spa day tomorrow as well, clearly trying to alleviate her guilt that Raven didn't get invited to pre-Wedding supper the night before either and is now being left to her own devices on the big day itself. For a moment, she considers being a no show and staying there, getting drunk and ordering room service she could charge to Clarke's tech-billionaire step-dad. Or actually just straight to Finn. She knows she won't though. As much as a simmering confrontation with Finn has brewed for years, she has never actually let him down in any way and isn't starting today. Also, she truly loves the Collins' family. Unfortunately, they just worship the ground Finn walks on and let him have his way most of the time too. Often, he behaves like the family puppy dog and not a twenty-six-year-old man and they pet him and pamper him as though he is too. Opening one of the bottles of champagne, she pours some into a glass and tries to drum up some of her badass balls. _I'm Raven Reyes for fuck's sakes. I put spaceships into the sky. Okay, parts for spaceships. I can wear my big-girl pants, go to Finn Collins' wedding, and not cry._

Determined, she starts to get ready into her outfit. It's somewhat an inappropriate outfit for a high-end society wedding. She can hear Gaia's voice from when she'd told her that Finn had bumped her down to casual wedding guest. Her friend initially told Raven to 'fuck him' and just not show, before she declared, "Okay, well, if you insist on going, you need to look insanely hot and fuck one of his friends." While there is NO WAY, she is ever going to sleep with a friend of Finn, she allowed Gaia to professionally style her hair and apply her make-up. All that is left for her to do is pull on her outfit. Gaia also vetoed her long evening gown, which Finn's mother had helped her choose, as too conservative, not to mention in keeping with the wedding theme colours. Quickly, she'd rifled through Raven's closet and thrown out a stylish and ridiculously expensive fitted suit Raven had bought but never worn, made up of tailored cropped trousers and jacket. 

Looking at it now, she has to admit, the suit is not a bad choice, as it will accommodate her brace neatly and is way too nice for work. After pulling on the trousers over some sexy French knickers (the big-girl pants in question from earlier), she turns to the top Gaia has chosen to go with it. It's a type of corset top, probably one that would not be out of place on a Kardashian. Raven considers baulking and sticking with her original dress but tries it on anyway, needing to forgo her bra and leave the blazer unfastened, as it won't contain her fairly ample cleavage. She pairs it with heels and then looks at herself in the mirror; the outfit, along with Gaia's smoky, sexy makeup and hair artistry, make her look pretty phenomenal, even she has to admit. For a moment, she worries it's too much. But then she shrugs: _I mean it's not like I'm even on the top table._ And the suit is dark charcoal grey, not white. No one will even notice you, she tells herself. Clarke Griffin, about to be Collins, is a goddess. After the latter thoughts, she adds even more of the sultriest, reddest lipstick she can find and faces her fears. 

Making her way down, she enters the converted chapel attached to the hotel and sits in the middle of the Groom's side, nodding at a few people she knows. Finn's side contains: a large number of his parents' friends; some male pilots she recognises vaguely from his company with their wives and girlfriends; some friends from college with their partners. She struggles to put names to indistinguishable faces. That was always the thing about Finn's friends: he'd always kept them separate from her, so she never really knew them. And the few times she had met them, she had found them pretty dull. All similar-looking pretty faces, nice jobs, and manners, without much else. Mind, better that than frat bros she supposes. Clarke's side is clearly much busier. Her glamorous-looking mother and step-father are immediately recognisable, warmly greeting guests on both sides. 

Running her gaze through Clarke's side, she notices a fairly animated group of friends, sitting a few rows from the front. The diversity of the group in comparison to Finn's friends - not just in appearance but in outfits too - immediately catches her eye. One of them is wearing some kind of skinny, metallic, lamé suit, and another is wearing what seems to be old-fashioned pilots' goggles on his head. 

Just as everyone is given the signal to be seated, and Marcus Kane leaves to collect the bride, she sights another young man hugging Clarke's step-father on his way into the room. He seems nonchalant and unhurried though, despite his tardiness and Marcus' attempt to dodge around him to get Clarke and her bridesmaids, clearly on a strict wedding schedule. Her gaze is immediately drawn to him and follows him down the aisle, where a middle-aged lady in a bright pink flowery dress shouts, 'Murphy' and embraces him, giving him a theatrical kiss as he passes, before he plants himself at the end of the row next to the boy with the goggles, leaning around him to shake the hands of the people in his vicinity. 

From where she is sitting, across the aisle, she can see him in clearly in profile. She's not sure exactly what happens next because he's not her type at all. Although, she's not sure exactly what this 'type' thing means, bar being something that she's seen people in swimwear say on a reality programme she and Gaia watch together. Since Finn, she has sworn off floppy-haired pretty-boy types and oscillated, in a lack-lustre manner, between self-obsessed gym fanatics and know-it-all engineers. Yet, when she looks at this Murphy, her body unexpectedly responds. A jolt of unbidden lust reverberates through her and she bites down hard on her lip to suppress it. He's not conventionally attractive but there is something incredibly attractive about him. His dark-navy suit is stylish and she sees that, although he's lean, he's not skinny, with some muscle tone across his shoulders and arms. But it's simultaneously both his face and hands that she's most drawn to. His hair is cropped short, so his face is shown off to best effect. His eyes, although blue, are unusually dark and expressive and soulful. Her eyes run over the alluring stubble along his jawline and down his body to his hands, which she can't help but wonder will feel like on her. 

Suddenly, almost like he knows he's being ogled at, he turns to his right, his gaze instantly meeting hers, before raking her up and down appreciatively, and returning to fix his eyes on hers once more. Realising she has been caught, she knows she should look away but finds herself unable to actually do so and her eyes remain locked on his. The intensity of his own gaze is such she feels exposed, almost naked, and yet, at the same time, she feels desired and so completely turned on, in a way she can't remember ever experiencing. Still, he doesn't break his line of vision, until she finally realises the bridal march is playing and everyone is standing. Hastily, she stands recollecting herself, as a striking looking young woman on the left of the goggles-wearer, exasperatedly pulls the still sitting Murphy up to his feet as well. 

Forcing herself to look away finally, she turns to look at the bride. Clarke looks absolutely stunning and is beaming with happiness, that she can't deny. She's followed by her two bridesmaids: one her excited teenage step-sister and the other a friend about their own age. After they pass them though, Raven realises his eyes are still on her from across the aisle, and it takes everything for her to keep her own trained at the front this time. 

However, despite her studiously looking forward, she can't concentrate and the ceremony passes in a blur of 'I dos', 'blah blahs' (well that's what she hears) and awws, including one from the congregation when poor Ilian drops the ring and has to scramble around on the floor under Clarke's Grandmother's feet to find it. This then escalates into laughter from the congregation, when she quirks 'I do' once he finally retrieves it. To her left, Raven hears Murphy and his friends enjoying the quip and, momentarily, her eyes flicker left again, and as she glimpses his amused smile, a surge of electricity and spark runs through her once again. 

After the ceremony, she heads straight outside, grabbing a glass of champagne and wanders, taking in the grounds, while hoping to avoid any awkward conversations and posing for photos. As the bell rings for them to be seated, she heads to the ballroom and finds herself on the seating plan. She's on a table just front left of the main table. Not at the back by the toilets like she was expecting. Initially, she recognises none of the names. She is seated between a Monty Green and Wells Jaha. _God, I hope this isn't a set up. As if this is not awkward enough._ Her eyes then run around the other names...Wells Jaha... Harper McIntyre... Jasper Jordan... Octavia Blake... John Murphy... Murphy... Something lurches inside her and she suddenly feels a little light headed and dizzy... So much so, she barely takes in the final name... Nathan Miller... 

After a cursory check of her appearance in a mirror in the hallway, she enters the ballroom and approaches the table, where she sees him again and steadies herself. Maybe this wedding won't be so bad after all. 

Hovering momentarily, she hears him say to Googles and Clarke's adult bridesmaid, an attractive woman with blond hair ,"Oh god, why has Clarke put one of Finn's friends on our table. Couldn't one of you have brought a date to fill it? Now, we'll have to be super polite and not slag off SkyWanker for the whole evening." 

Unable to help herself, she barks out a loud laugh and they immediately turn to look at her, realisation hitting them that she is indeed Finn's aforementioned friend. The girl looks mortified, Goggles has the good grace to wince, but this Murphy doesn't skip a beat, simply shrugging unapologetically at her. 

"SkyWanker? That's actually a good one," she retorts. 

"Well, I do try. And he is a pilot. It was almost too easy." 

"Yeah - I got it. No explanation needed. I'm Raven Reyes. SkyWanker's friend." Firmly, she holds out her hand and this time deliberately meets his gaze and bites her lip. As she does so, she sees a flicker of something in his eyes and an amused smirk ghosts over his face, as he takes her hand. 

"John Murphy. The Princess's friend. I have a nickname for Clarke too." He is still holding her hand as he continues, "Now I've put a name to the eyes though, I am actually sad she's decided to put between Wells and Monty, clearly trying to keep you as far as way from me as possible." As he reluctantly draws his hand away, his thumb runs over her palm, which surprises her. He's definitely flirting. Men rarely ever flirt with her. She's feels irrationally disappointed when he pulls away but can sense his palm still against hers and the thought of it goes straight to her core. 

The bridesmaid cuts in and grabs both her hands, "Ignore him. Finn is ... err... lovely. He's got lovely hair and such a nice smile, right? Anyway, I'm Harper, and I'm pleased to have another girl at the table. Octavia doesn't count. She has a motorbike, plays soccer and does MMA. In fact, she was supposed to be on bridesmaid duty too but she told Clarke the dress didn't match her tattoos and abandoned me." Despite the force of her personality and the current of her chatter, Raven can't help but feel drawn to Harper's warmth straight away. Harper leans in, mock confidentially and continues, "Although I'm secretly glad I'm not on the top table, babysitting Madi and Finn's brother. It'll be much more fun here. I've arranged for one of the waiters to keep our glasses full. Come and sit down and I'll introduce you to everyone. Ignore Murphy, he's all mouth, with no bite." 

"Hey! You don't know enough about my mouth or bite to make that comment. Trust me, women don't complain about either." 

Sitting down, she tries to filter out where her mind takes his mouth comment and to concentrate on Harper's introductions and then make conversation with her seatmates. 

Quickly though, she falls into comfortable conversation with Monty and can see why Clarke has sat her with him at least. Turns out they both went to MIT, although he was the year below her and while their paths had never crossed there, they know lots of the same places and professors so have plenty to talk about. By trade, he's a scientist but with lots of engineering background and he's immediately interested in her job as aeronautical engineer and has heard a lot of good things about the company she works for. "Actually, Monty, you would be perfect for a new project they are starting," she launches into excitedly telling him about the programme. At this point, Monty's boyfriend, Miller, overhears and leans in from his conversation with Octavia and Murphy, encouraging his boyfriend and making her promise to pass along the details. As he joins their conversation, it's clear he's Monty's biggest supporter and she smiles at how cute his belief and encouragement of his boyfriend is. 

After the appetisers, Wells brings her back into the whole table's conversation, asking how she knows Finn, at which Octavia mocks him for asking questions from the Mundane Wedding Small Talk Guide and Raven hopes she actually won't have to answer it. However, Murphy jumps in, "Seriously, though how did Finn Collins make a friend like you. We find it strange enough that he enticed Clarke." 

Octavia rolls her eyes at him, "No, we don't. He was doing a rotation on the air ambulance and Clarke was an exhausted medical student, working the ER. When you spend the day with disillusioned medical staff and aggressive and drunken patients, then a pilot with clean hair and all his teeth is a real catch." Turning, she looks expectantly at Raven. 

"We grew up together. I lived next door."

"Ohh. So you're literally the girl-next-door," Jasper adds in and they all wait for her to add something else, until she claps her hands awkwardly and tells them that's the whole story.

"So how did you guys all meet Clarke?" she counters, moving the attention away from herself.

Jasper explains, "Well, Murphy, Monty and I all met in Kindergarten but we became friends with Wells, Harper, Miller and Clarke in middle school Science Club." 

Miller jokingly groans, "Can you not tell people that story. It wrecks my street-cred. I used to be a marine!"

Harper interjects and admonishes him, "As a middle school Science teacher, can I say that all the best kids can be found at Science Club."

Raven nods, studying them all and commenting that this makes sense, as there's a lot of Science based professions between them. Harper's a Science teacher, Wells and Clarke have just graduated medical school, Miller is an EMT, and Monty is a Scientist and MIT Graduate. 

Monty adds to her roundup, "Murphy's a pharmacist as well. He actually went to MIT too." Turning to look at Murphy, Raven is pleasantly surprised by both of these things. 

Murphy though is self-depreciating, "Yeah but I went to community college first to do pre-med, then got offered a bursary to transfer to the pharmacology programme. I figured, it's a career. I can start it without doing another degree. And I don't have a zillion dollars of college debt." 

Firmly, Raven contradicts him, "You went to MIT. On a full scholarship. Own it." 

Across the table, Murphy looks down, clearly slightly embarrassed by her assertive praise but Harper beams over at her, "That's what we always say. He hides it but he's supersmart. I like you already, Raven Reyes." 

Surveying the table, Raven realises that covers most of their friendships with Clarke, except Octavia's and asks her, "What about you, Octavia, are you a Science nerd, like the rest of us?"

They all laugh and Murphy leans in, his voice low, and confides, "Once, Octavia blew up our microwave by putting an actual metal spoon in it." 

Shoving him in response, Octavia counters, "FFS. I was fourteen! And a bit drunk on that alcohol you, Jasper, and Monty made in Jasper's Dad's shed." Jasper looks as though he's about to add something else about her lack of Science knowledge but Octavia turns to her left and stares at him warningly, so he looks pointedly around for the waiter with the drinks instead. 

Octavia continues, "No, I was in the Cadet Corp with Miller, Murphy and Wells and started hanging out with their friends. I actually hated Clarke until Freshman year though, until this creep, Cage Wallace, threatened to show the entire school a topless photo I'd misguidedly sent him and Clarke got it back from him by countering with a threat about her new step-dad owning his Dad's company. I still call her The Princess though. I mean, look at her golden hair." 

They all laugh and Raven asks if the four of them had all served in the military. Octavia and Miller it turns out have just finished their contracts in the last year and Wells is still in. His medical degree is sponsored by the army and he's expected to be a Military Doctor in exchange. Murphy though scoffs at the mere idea, darkly commenting that he's chosen to be a pharmacist to get himself out of a military sponsored degree and adding, "I hate guns. And flying. And authority. Plus, I'm late to everything. Not to mention I'd get sunstroke in the first hour, if I had to go on a tour to the Middle East," which makes her laugh. 

Their mains then arrive and, after, while they wait for the speeches before the deserts, she is drawn into conversation with Wells and Harper, who share the gossip about Clarke's stepfather, who they say is the richest man they have ever met, with Harper adding, "And Wells is a Jaha, even if he's making it on his own, and they ain't poor!" They give her a rundown of people on the top table: Clarke's annoying step-sister, Madi ("Think Dawn in Season 5 of Buffy," Wells warns), Clarke's super surgeon mother, Abby, and her Tony Stark-like step-father, Marcus, plus her grandmother on her mother's side. She does the same with his: Finn's parents, Susan and Michael, his brother, Ilian and his grandparents, Enid and Jack. She doesn't have any gossip about any of them though. The Collins's are all just really nice, 'with really good hair she adds', to which Harper and Wells nod sagely in agreement. Momentarily, a pang of sadness hits her but, to be fair, this table is not so bad. And Harper was right about the wine supply. 

"Are you trying to get some insight from the Collins's insider for the book?" Jasper interrupts them, cutting off an animated argument he was having about Game of Thrones with Octavia and Murphy. 

"Book?" 

"Murphy and Jasper run bets," Harper rolls her eyes. 

"She's saying it like that as she never wins," Jasper counters. 

"I'm saying it like that because you are two grown professional-men, who live in a shared flat, with a third housemate, who sells medical marijuana, and fritter your money away making ridiculous bets on everything." 

Jasper is outraged, "Ridiculous?! I took you all to Vegas last year on my accumulator winnings! Not to mention..." 

Raven cuts him off; she can tell already that he's slightly drunk and overexcited but she isn't opposed to a bet now and then, "What are you betting on today?" 

Murphy responds, while pulling a small notepad and a dark-blue pen out of his breast-pocket, "Length of speech. Individual category: Best Man. Collective time: Him, plus Bride, father and mother of the Bride, Groom. And anyone else who decides to chip in. It wouldn't surprise me if Madi performs a song and a poem. You in?"

She considers. She actually knows how long Ilian's speech is. She wrote it months ago and then edited it for him when he'd called her in a panic two nights ago. She's also practised it with him at least ten times. Yesterday, it was five minutes and forty seconds but she thinks he will flounder to start with an audience, so she chooses six minutes and twenty-five seconds and thirty one minutes overall." 

"How much is the stake?" she asks reaching for her purse. 

"Five dollars each bet, plus I should warn you, there's an outfit forfeit." 

Pulling out a ten, she passes it over the table to him, slightly disappointed that their fingers don't touch this time. Raising an eyebrow, she asks about the outfit forfeit and Murphy explains that the person furthest away has to wear something foolish, as chosen by the others, for a connected serious social event. 

"Oh," she says understanding. "Which is obviously why Jasper is wearing those goggles." 

With her comment, they all laugh raucously, with Octavia explaining, "No that's just Jasper. Despite the fact he hasn't had a girlfriend in several light years, he still thinks they are a look," Jasper launches his napkin ring at her head but she easily catches it with one hand and continues, "Miller's suit. Trust us, he has good taste and he wouldn't normally be seen dead in something that garish." Lowering her voice, she whispers, "We're terrible friends. We bet on how long Finn would last. We always bet on each other's relationships. Miller was the furthest out. He said one date." 

Miller defends himself, "I thought that artist, Lexa Woods, the one Clarke met at the exhibition in her building, was going to ask her out and that they had good chemistry. But instead, Finn literally swooped in from the sky and she went all simpering and weird over him, like he's the Prince Charming to her Princess." _Oh yes,_ she thinks, _that's Finn all over._ He adds, slightly more quietly, "We don't bet past a wedding though. That seems a bit much, even for us, and we already have one divorce in the group." 

Shortly after this, someone brings them champagne and the toasts and speeches start. Abby and Marcus go first, giving a toast to Clarke's beloved late father that has everyone emotional, before charmingly doing Thank Yous in tandem together, and retelling stories about Clarke, including a teenage Clarke telling Abby after her first meeting with Marcus, that they could keep a two-year-old Madi but not him. Clarke goes next and keeps it short but looks at Finn with total devotion and adoration, as she toasts her new husband that Raven has to look away for a second. _Don't fuck this one up, Finn,_ she thinks. Then it's Ilian's turn. As soon as he stands up, Raven can see he is petrified and he knocks his water glass over after he says two words, so the first twenty seconds are spent mopping it up. Already she wants to rescue him. After which, he looks up sheepishly and jokes, "Good start there," which makes everyone laugh and Raven claps loudly and whoops for him, in order to catch his attention. He finds her in the room, like she had told him to do and focuses on her while delivering her speech, just like they had practised. He does a decent job in the end, delivering the jokes well, and everyone 'awws' at the soppy bit at end where he says he hopes he finds love like it in the future. He nails the Finn-like puppy dog pout and everyone claps genuinely for him; she flashes him a thumbs up, as he passes over to Finn.

Moving her attention back to the table, she notices Murphy staring intently at her. Her holds up his phone: 00:06:24. She shrugs and gestures faux surprise and he smirks in a way that suggests he appreciates her cunning at least. Their gaze lingers across the table, before she turns back to Finn. She can't say it's the most pleasant experience listening to him gush about Clarke being the one true love of his life but part of her is genuinely glad it's not her up there, facing being married _to Finn_ until death do her part.

After the end of the speeches, they are served coffee and dessert and Murphy is getting everyone to settle up their bets so he can pay Raven her winnings in both categories, when Raven notices a figure lurch towards her, saying her name and then embracing her tightly. _Oh fuck, Charmaine._ From the smell of alcohol engulfing her senses, Raven realises it's worse: _oh god, a half-drunk Charmaine Diyoza._ She's actually Finn's Aunt, his Dad's much younger half-sister. Raven knows she is definitely sat on a back table with some other distant relatives near the toilets because whether Charmaine goes, a scene usually follows. 

Before Raven has a chance to get up properly and manoeuvre her away from Clarke's friends, Charmaine is already launching into an indignant tirade about her nephew, unconcerned that they are at his wedding or who might overhear, "Raven! Wow! You look absolutely gorgeous! You hold your head up high because we all know that boy has done you wrong..." A desperate attempt from Raven to interject is steamrolled by a fling of Charmaine's hand, "First, he cheats on you with her, then he dumps you off the top table, even though we all know you have always been part of this family, and then he lets Ilian give YOUR speech. But I've just got to go to the bathroom, so let's meet outside for a cigarette in ten and catch up properly. The nerve of that boy. He almost doesn't deserve the family hair." At which, she lurches off, leaving a trail of alcohol fumes, perfume, and destruction. 

Letting out a painful wince, Raven turns back to the table. They are all gawping. Jasper has actually pulled his goggles over his eyes and his mouth is hanging open in shock, and she can't help but think he looks a bit like a cartoon fish. Octavia is giving her a knowing look but she daren't move her eyes over to Murphy. Luckily, just as she struggles for something to say, Ilian appears at her side, reminding her she promised to get him a strong drink if he didn't faint mid-speech and she gratefully grabs hold of his arm, throws a vague goodbye to the table, and retreats from the ballroom to the bar. Here, she gets Ilian his drink and, after making some small talk with some family friends, she opts to hide out in her room for a bit, although it's a pity she doesn't smoke anymore as Charmaine's cigarette offer seems pretty appealing right now. 

In the privacy of her room, she paces back and forwards drinking water and then a coffee and trying to psych herself up enough to return downstairs. She can hear the Bride and Groom being reintroduced for the dancing and various calls for more photos. 

Eventually, she does make her way back down, briefly posing for an awkward photo with the bride and groom while she congratulates them, before having a drink with Finn's grandparents and father in the bar. She is sitting with them when she sees Murphy getting some drinks and reluctantly excuses herself to go over, explain, and potentially do some damage control, as it had been abundantly clear Clarke's friends didn't know that she was Finn's ex or that he'd overlapped her with Clarke.

"Hey," she tentatively leans next to him at the bar and he offers to get her a drink, reminding her that Marcus is paying, and smiling when she asks the bartender for a glass of champagne. 

"Sooo.... this is awkward," she admits. 

He scoffs, "Oh, we love awkward. Octavia especially. She'll dine on this for weeks." He carries on, "Although I can't believe you went out with him. First you and then Clarke. I can only assume he's got a magic... wallet, with a pilot's licence in." 

This makes her laugh and eases the tension slightly, "Ha. No, he was my childhood friend and first boyfriend. We grew apart. His Aunt Charmaine made it sound much more dramatic than it was..." The tension returns and she considers her next words carefully, "Maybe don't mention it to Clarke - I wouldn't want to spoil her day. Finn - he's got his faults - but he loves her. He'll be a good husband to her." 

Turning to face her directly, he responds, "You're good people Raven Reyes. I mean, most of what you just said was total bullshit but you clearly don't want to hurt anyone and you're loyal to your friend, despite his many faults." 

"That something you know?" 

"Well, I'm friends with Jasper, so I've had plenty of practice. He didn't cheat on me with his now wife though." 

Their drinks arrive and she takes a gulp as they stand in silence before she asks, "How did you know I was covering for him?" 

"You looked sad when you said it. I like to think I'm good at reading people. He hurt you. And I'm pretty sure you didn't deserve it, Raven Reyes." When he says her full name again, a shudder of pleasure runs through her and her mind can't help but wonder how he would say it in bed. He continues, "Plus, I'm guessing what the drunk Aunt said was pretty much true because you totally wrote his brother's speech. He doesn't know what half those words he said mean." 

The girl behind the bar comes over and tops up her glass again, as she has nervously drunk most of it already, before she asks, "Do you think I'm pathetic?" 

"What?!" he shakes his head. "No. Not at all. In fact, I think it takes one hell of a woman to come to her ex's wedding, looking as good as you do right now, and to be as calm, collected and dignified as you've been." He looks rakes her up and down, like he did in the service earlier, "Kind of explains the outfit mind. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

She smiles, appreciating the compliment and then, for some reason she can't explain, since she never tells anyone about background, she starts to tell him about her mother, explaining that, although she didn't die until Raven was eighteen, she was long gone before that and Finn, first as her friend, and then her boyfriend, became the most important person in her life. "I think, looking back, when he decided he wasn't in love with me anymore and took that away, I wasn't prepared or ready to walk away from him and his family, because they were all I had, so even though he broke up with me, I still wanted to be part of that, I guess. So, even though I might have moments where I am mad. Trust me, I was so fucking mad at him this last week, I have this thing where I try to take the high road because he is not bringing me down and forcing me to leave them." 

Abruptly, she stops herself, worried she's said too much, glancing around in case anyone heard her emotional outburst but they are still standing alone at the bar and most people are in the ballroom or outside, waiting for the fireworks to start. She is surprised though when he nods empathetically and shares that he knows what it is like to be in that kind of emotionally dependent relationship, "I met my ex when I was eighteen and we were together, on-and-off, until last year. She had this 'me and her against the world thing', which when it was great when it was great but when we fought, which was a lot, things could get ugly. Yet, we couldn't let each other go. Like we were tied together by this belief we needed each other. So I get it. Just with less Christina Aguilera lyrics." 

Snorting, they both laugh at themselves, before she says she expects he wants to return to his friends, at which he asks her to join them and 'get trashed', although he warns her, "Jasper's mother is here and will probably try to match you up with Jasper." 

Agreeing, she helps him with the trays of drinks and they find the others all dancing together back in the ballroom. To be fair to them, they greet her warmly and Monty and Harper immediately grab her to dance with them. It's also loud at least which means she can avoid an interrogation, although Jasper's mother - the woman she'd seen earlier in the floral pink - is indeed very interested in whether or not she's single. 

After a few hours of raucous group dancing, laughing, and drinking, she finds herself back at the bar, drinking a soda water and wondering whether to sneak back to her room or to woman up to make her move on Murphy, when he joins her again, which she is pretty certain is no coincidence on his part. 

"See, we're not so bad," he comments. "Fancy a night cap for the road?" He nods at the bar. 

While she hasn't danced alone with him yet, Raven feels like the two of them have been flirting and giving one another enough lingering glances (well, eyefucking she knew Gaia would say) over the course of the evening that she knows where this could lead. Shaking her head, she takes a deep breath, reminds herself she's badass, and responds, "I'm actually just about to go to bed. To Room 517." 

For a second, she sees his confusion, but it's quickly replaced by a knowing smile. 

"Room 517." 

"Yeah. Give me ten minutes or so?" She bites down on her bottom lip, and as she meets his eyes again, she knows he'll be up before the 'or so'. 

She's right. She barely has time to freshen up and brush her teeth, when she hears a firm tap at the door. Checking the spyhole, she opens it to him and he steps right in, immediately taking her face in his hands and kissing her deeply. Responding she pulls him to her. He's a good kisser; she knew he would be. He's firm and passionate and he says her name in a low voice, as he turns her around and manoeuvres her back into the door when he closes it. Already, her senses are heightened. She feels like they've been doing a kind of foreplay for hours and, if she's honest, she's already more than ready for him, and she can feel he is ready too, as he pushes himself back against her and she shoves his jacket off his shoulders, enjoying running her hands over his shirt covered shoulders, arms, and chest. 

Smiling into the kiss, she comments. "You brushed your teeth too," and she feels him smile back, before he lifts her slightly, so she's a few inches off the floor and carries her, still kissing her, back into the bedroom.

As they move between rooms, she reaches out and switches off all the lights. Pausing, he backs up, still kissing her but shaking his lips against hers, "Lights on," he is resolute. 

Between kisses she tries to argue they stay off asking him, "Why? You don't need to flatter me. Just to be clear. This is totally a one night stand." However, she barely recognises her own voice all low and breathy and not at all assertive. If she's honest, she wouldn't mind the lights on because she likes looking at him, but she feels slightly self-conscious still about her leg with people she doesn't know well. 

"So I can see the most attractive woman I will have ever slept with. That's not flattery. That's the truth. I haven't been able to keep my eyes off you since the second I saw you earlier." 

It wasn't that she didn't know she was attractive but no one had told her that for years. Finn obviously used to in their early days. When they were younger, he used to look at her like couldn't believe how lucky he was everyday but eventually he had stopped looking at her all together. Other men look at her all the time. At work, at the gym, in bars, she feels their eyes, gawping, leering, undressing her. However, most men rarely actually speak to her or tell her that. Unless they are really drunk or douche bros who fancy themselves. Often, she wonders if it is her leg or something else she does to repel the good ones and attract the worst ones.

Obviously, consequently, she lets him put the lights back on and, when he places her back on the floor, she peels her own jacket, brace and trousers off as sensually as she can manage, and lets him survey her lustfully and appreciatively for a moment, while she stands in her revealing top and knickers. 

Slowly, his fingers trace her collarbone and up her neck, tilting her chin up and brushing his lips over hers gently, "You were the most beautiful woman in the room tonight." 

While it might be a line, she's immediately dragging him back to her, kicking her shoes off and pulling him down onto the bed on top of her, while he is trying to kick off his own shoes as she explores his mouth. Wrapping her good leg against him, she pulls him close, enjoying the friction against him. She can feel how turned on he is and slips her hands to the front of his pants, running her hands over him and going to unloosen his buttons. In response, he moans and bites quite sharply down on her neck, capturing her hands and pulling them away, holding them above her head, at which her back arches instinctively into him: she likes it when a man takes control of her. 

When he makes his way along her collarbone, he stops just short of her chest and she moans impatiently that he doesn't have to do all his usual foreplay tricks, "Let's see whether you're saying that after I've done them, Reyes," he counters. He says it in such a cocksure way that normally she would be totally turned off but she isn't, and she feels an almost unbearable rush of heat and dampness. This shouldn't be working for her. It's too intimate. She finds it hard to let go with men outside her relationships, never mind the first time. But it is absolutely working. 

Almost torturously slowly, he undoes her top with one hand, the other holding her in place. He lets her spill out and traces his fingers lightly over her skin as he does, before discarding her top onto the floor. His mouth is on her chest now. Dimly, she thinks she should reciprocate with her own moves but it feels so _so_ good. Normally, she would be methodically thinking about the process of sex and what to do, how to move, how to respond. But right now, she can't think of anything clearly, except that she wants him everywhere and the need for more. As he moves his right hand away from hers, he runs it through her hair, along her jaw and down to join his other one against at her chest and she sighs as he sensitively runs them over her nipples. Using her now free hands against the bed, she moves herself up deliberately so one of them is in his mouth quicker. And _oh, god._ How is she already sweating and quivering? He's barely touched her. As he alternates running his tongue across her nipple and sucking it into him, she can't help but move her hand with his to her other nipple, feathering his over it, then using it to pinch it, before moving his hand with hers down to her clit. She never usually does this. She's not sure who this sexually confident version of herself is. It's like her body is governing her mind, rather than the other way around, which is what usually happens. When he pulls back to look at her, she thinks he's offended and pauses but he urges her on, "No, I want to see you. I want to see what you like. Show me. Tell me. You need a release."

So she does. And they do it together. Hooking their fingers into her underwear and pushing them down. Touching, circling in both directions, pushing down at the angles she likes, fingering, circling again, until she's gasping out, unintelligible words and his name. Removing her hands, she lets him take over, while she uses hers to drag him back to her mouth, grabbing them into his hair and over his stubble and kissing into him desperately, until the wave which has been hanging over her, crashes down and she can't stop her back arching and the long, almost strangled sigh which follows.

He gives her a minute; his own sweat-mattered forehead against hers. Then, they are kissing again, open-mouthed and sloppy, their hands, mouths and tongues everywhere. As he moves back to remove his pants, which she has managed to unbutton, he pulls out his wallet and removes a condom, pausing to check this is what she wants. To this, she responds by starting to push his underwear down, when he lets her know that he's pierced, which both surprises and intrigues her.

  
He explains, "My ex was kinda kinky. Most women like it but let me know if it's too much. I buy special condoms so don't worry it won't break." Having felt him already, she knows he's a more than decent size and, although this isn't something she has experienced before, she trusts him and encourages him to hurry up and get on with it. He does, opening and discarding the packet somewhere, before protecting himself and hovering over her. And then he's in her, and _oh yes_ , she can see what he was saying: this is definitely going to work for her. _And god,_ then he's everywhere and she lets herself get pulled back along with the current. 

Afterwards, they lie panting, both sweat matted. Even Gaia's treble strength hairspray hasn't been able to withstand this and her hair is tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. His hair meanwhile is stuck to his head and he's lying back on the bed looking at her in a way that she can't help but enjoy. Grabbing a robe, she wanders into the bathroom and from where he lies, he can hear running water, before she appears in doorway, naked again. He whistles low in appreciation, adding, ‘Jesus’ and she smiles beckoning him, "Fancy that night cap in this suite's ridiculous jacuzzi bath?" 

He doesn't need to be asked twice. Scrambling out of bed, he grabs some glasses, some of the complimentary champagne from the fridge, and another condom, which makes her laugh at his confidence when she sees him. 

"Hey I was a cadet," he justifies. "Be prepared and all that." 

"Isn't that the scouts?" she retorts and they both dissolve into laughter, before climbing into the swirl of the water together. 

Waking up the next morning, she's simultaneously rested, stated, clean from the Jacuzzi, and aching in a way which attests to how good a previous evening she's had. Sitting up, she sees him sprawled across the bed and appreciates his naked form, which she can see in all its glory as she's stolen all covers. Looking at her phone, she's surprised to see it's just after midday and they've slept so late. Well, she supposes they had stayed up _late. Oh._ Her mind wanders back to the bath and round two which had been pretty incredible: a pleasurable memory runs through her mind of the sensation of him and the jet water working her together. 

After, tipsy on champagne and sex, they tried to mop up the water having practically caused a tidal wave when they were lost in one another and he'd told her a hysterical story about how he, Monty, and Jasper made a raft when they were eight and tried to cross the lake behind Jasper's house. Luckily it wasn't more than a metre deep, as they'd ended up sinking right in the middle and Jasper had screamed so much that he was going to drown, despite them telling him he could stand up, that the entire emergency services of the town had appeared by time Monty and Murphy had managed to subdue him and haul him out. 

She pulls the covers back over him and inches as close to him as she can, when he murmurs, "Oh, I wondered if you were going to let me have any duvet back." He's clearly been awake the whole time she'd been ogling him; she keeps getting caught doing that. He doesn't seem to mind the cover stealing or the perving though, and he pulls her closer and kisses her a good morning. 

"Shall I make coffee to make up for the duvet hogging?"

"Mmm, yes please," he stretches and her eyes wander down his chest appreciatively, while also noticing the marks and light scratches she must made the night for. She feels the heat rush to her core; she's not sure what had come over her last night but she maybe needs to change her dating profile preferences because she has a new type. 

As she brings them both coffees from the suite's living room area, she asks if he's going to the friends and family after-wedding BBQ, which is due to start about 1pm. He responds that he promised Jasper's mother they would all eat lunch together, noting, "Actually, I need to stop Jasper ratting me out to her for not going back to our hotel room last night or I'll get a full inquisition." 

This makes her laugh and she asks if Jasper takes after her, "Oh - he's insanely annoying but she's my foster mother, so I can't say anything bad about her. It's like Finn's family, I guess, because Jasper's family make him less annoying, trust me." He continues saying, "I was in the care system from when I was eleven and Jasper made his mom get registered as a foster parent to take me a year later, as I was going down a dark path. Considering I'd been only half-jokingly trying to ditch him since Kindergarten, I ended up stuck with him after that, but I am eternally gratefully for all the Jordans." 

Realising that him being a foster kid is another thing they have in common, because although she'd never officially been in the system, she had grown up in a house with a neglectful parent and had been left to fend for herself a lot of the time, she asks in mock horror, "So his mom had both of you in your teens?!" 

"Ha - I know, right, I was a total tearaway as well at the start. And she took Monty in junior year, after his parents decided to move without consulting him." He says this story easily, practised almost. But something in his eyes belies his words and clearly the stories around both of their foster placements are painful. Her memory flicks back to the day before, when she remembered thinking Murphy was an odd choice for the cadet programme but it would perhaps make sense if he was a child in care. It was the kind of free after-school activity a social worker would have marched him to, hoping it might give him some discipline. 

He goes on to add, "So, in the end, she had us three, plus Jasper's annoying little sisters. She's one hell of a woman. His Dad is a trucker and works a way a lot. I think for some peace." He asks if she wants to join them, but she kind of wants to bask in bed for a bit, so she says she'll probably pop in later, briefly, before she goes to the massage she has booked.

"Well, thanks for letting me be part of your revenge sex at Finn's wedding plot at least. Was this what you were expecting?"

Laughing. she responds, "No I thought I'd have to sleep with one of Finn's friends: the Ken-doll pilots." 

"Pharmacists for the win! Trust me, they would be too vanilla for you. Ken-dolls are dickless, right, and that revenge would have been no fun." She snorts in response and he continues salaciously, "...I like to think I know how to use mine." 

"Have you got time to remind me?" she tilts her head towards his suggestively. 

Cursing himself, he says, "I only brought two condoms. Even in my wildest dreams, I was not planning on getting this lucky. But... my mouth works pretty well when I'm not mouthing off with it." 

Turns out, he's completely right about this assertion and as he works said mouth on her, she thinks vaguely that she should defend his honour to Harper after she mocked him the day before. In the end, it takes another hour, more than one orgasm from her and one from him, after she uses her hand on him, before he actually gets out of the bed and makes any kind of attempt to go to the BBQ. After finding his clothes and his phone, on which he holds up to show her nine messages from Jasper and three missed calls, he makes a somewhat reluctant move to leave. She can't help but think, _Christ, he looks sexy back in that suit,_ albeit slightly dishevelled, and with walk-of-shame stamped all over him. 

"So this was a pleasure. I know you said one night only, wedding revenge and all, but I won't hold it against you if you want to hook up again." Producing the fancy pen from his jacket again, he jots his number across the top of the wedding programme, before adding some horns and a moustache to the picture of Finn. 

He smirks and winks, "I also owe you eighty dollars from the book. Is it awkward if I give it to you now? I mean, trust me, if I was going to pay you for that I'd have to win one of Jasper's accumulators." 

She's laughing as he leaves, calling back at her, "Hopefully see you around, Raven Reyes." 

Sinking back into the bed, beyond satisfied, she can’t help but think that it hadn't been such an awful wedding. Not at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this is already ridiculously long but it's going to be five chapters in total. 
> 
> Any guesses about the other weddings or the funeral? Any other thoughts or anything you’d like to see?


End file.
